British start-up being sued over Nokia’s ‘HERE’

Nokia is threatening to file a lawsuit against British tech start-up Lowdownapp over using the ‘HERE’ brand name.

The start-up’s standalone app for checking in to locations, called ‘HERE,’ enables its users to notify friends about their arrival at a location.

The smartphone maker claims that the name would puzzle the common users between Nokia’s own HERE range of apps relating to mapping and navigation.

BBC cited Nokia’s letter to Lowdownapp as saying: "Your use of the HERE sign is likely to deceive members of the relevant public such that they will believe your business is connected with or part of our client’s business, when that is not the case."

"This amounts to a misrepresentation that will cause damage to our client’s goodwill in the UK and amounts to passing off."

Portraying the threat as a real-life David versus Goliath, Lowdownapp chief executive David Senior said: "It’s ludicrous – people say, ‘I’m here,’ to announce their arrival, which is why we have it as a service.

"As a small start-up trying to deliver value to users we don’t think a multi-billion dollar company will be affected by this.

"Life is hard enough without Goliaths squashing Davids – maybe they should focus on creating a better mapping service than Google or Apple than squishing a minuscule business."